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Kenya's B2B Fresh Produce Supply Platform, Twiga Foods, Has Raised $10 Million In Series A Funding

Kenya's Twiga Foods, a business-to-business (B2B) food supply platform, has raised $10,3 million in a Series A funding round. The Series A funding round was led by Wamda Capital and includes Omidyar Network, DOB Equity, Uqalo, 1776, Blue Haven Initiative, Alpha Mundi, and AHL.

Twiga has said that the investment will enable it to increase the number of vendors it is able to serve each day in Nairobi, diversify its product portfolio, and introduce advanced supplier services.

The funding is provided through debt and equity instruments.

"Twiga is an outcome of the Nairobi startup ecosystem, the years of investments that have gone into developing talent, supporting hubs, and attracting capital to the market,” said Grant Brooke, CEO and Co-Founder at Twiga Foods.

Twiga was established in Kenya in 2014 and it uses technology to consolidate the purchasing power of urban retailers in Nairobi.

Twiga achieves this, consolidation of purchasing power, by saving Nairobi's urban retailers a trip to the fresh produce market by delivering to their doorstep better quality and better priced produce.

Twiga has to date sold over 55 million bananas.

"Twiga represents our first investment in East Africa, a new geography for us in which we plan on being increasingly more active. We are particularly excited in beginning our investment program in East Africa by supporting this remarkable set of entrepreneurs building a truly disruptive business. Drawing on our experience in the logistics and supply chain space, we believe Twiga has developed a unique solution to address the inherent inefficiencies in the delivery of fresh produce in East Africa with significant positive impact for both producers and consumers," said Fadi Ghandour, Chairperson at Wamda Capital.

As part of the Series A funding round, which is led by Wamda, Ghandour will be joining the Twiga Board of Directors.

“We are pleased to support Twiga and its mission of helping Kenya create a more sustainable, scalable farm produce ecosystem,” said Ory Okolloh, Director of Investments at Omidyar Network.

Additional to the Series A round closing, Twiga closed some $2 million in grant funding from USAID, GSMA, and others to support bolt-on farmer services, financial inclusion, and first of their kind domestic food safety initiatives.

"The addition of new partners into Twiga, and continued support of our current stakeholders, is a huge affirmation that there's a better way to build marketplaces for Kenya and the rest of urban Africa,” said Peter Njonjo, Co-founder at Twiga Foods

“We can get consumers and suppliers a better deal, and this support will go a long way in achieving those goals," concluded Njonjo.

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